Improvement in lap-seam gages for sewing-machines



E. SHAW.

LAP SEAM GAGES FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Patented June13, 1876.

NJEIERs. PHO HER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED" STATES PATENT DEFIOE.

ELIJAH SHAW, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAP -SEAM GAGES FOR SEWIN G-MAQHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 78,679, dated June13, 1876; application filed March 21, 1876. a

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIJAH SHAW, of Milwaukee, in the county ofMilwaukee, in the State of Wisconsin, have invented certain Improvementsin Lap-Seam Gages for Sewing Machines, of which the following isaspecitication:

The object of my invention is to guide leather or other material so asto sew a lapseam; and it consists in the combination of devices to forma gage for that purpose, as will be more fully set forth in thefollowing specification.

Figure 1 is a view of the gage and the front part of a sewing-machine;Fig. 2, a View of the gage hinged to the needleplate and turned down;Fig. 3, a sectional View of the gage,

tive view of the gage.

A is the needle-plate, to which the gageholder B is hinged; B, thegage-holder, made of two pieces of metal, and held together by screws 00; D, the dovetail slot, to hold the gage in the center between the twopieces of metal B, comprising the gage-holder; E, the dovetailed lowerportion or base of the lapseam gage, which sets in the dovetail slot'D;F, the center piece of the gage; G, lips on dovetail piece E; H, pinpassing through lips G and center piece E,forming a hinge for the centerpiece of the gage; I, lips on upper piece, pivoted to center piece F, toform the upper guideway and hinge of upper piece; K, a screw passingthrough a slot in the upper piece into shoulder L, for the purpose ofadshowing the springs; and Fig. 4, a perspecustin the u ier uidewa wideror narrower- J a: is i 7 M, a screw passing through slot in dovetailpiece E into shoulder N, for the purpose of adjusting the lowerguideway; O U, springs for giving elasticity-in the gage to ease it overuneven surfaces; P, hinge by which the gageholder is attached to theneedle-plate, or post, or arm. The gage is hinged to the throatplate, orother part of the machine, so that it may be turned down, when desired,'for removing the work or for inspection.

To sew left-hand seams the gage is removed from its holder and itsposition reversed. The different parts ofthe gage are separated bysprings, which allow the parts to accommodate their position to variedthicknesses of material. V The amount of lap in the seam is regulated byadjusting the shoulders L and N nearer toor farther from each other.

I claim as my inven tion- 1. In combination with the throat-plate of awax-thread sewing-machine, the hinged gage-holder B and the lap-seamgage, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the center piece F, the lips G and I, and theirinterposed pivots and springs, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of the center piece F, the lip I, and the base E withthe adjustable shoulders L and N, substantially as shown and described.

ELIJAH SHAW.

Witnesses:

A. SCHATTENBERG, J. B. SMITH.

